A property on Angus Street in Regina’s North Central neighbourhood is causing nearby residents to lose sleep.
The abandoned home at 1454 Angus Street is being described as a “magnet for trouble”, according to one neighbour.
Russ, a resident in the building next door, said the decrepit house — and the daily squatters that reside there — have been a long standing issue in the neighbourhood.
“There’s a bunch that make it miserable for the people that live in the apartment here,” he said.
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White Pony Lodge (WPL), a local safety patrol group that circulates the North Central neighbourhood every weekend, came across the rundown home Aug. 27 and was alarmed to find dangerous objects covering the property.
“What we found were needles all over the place, cooking tools used for drugs, paraphernalia… just a lot of different stuff that caused us a lot of concern,” WPL co-founder, Shawna Oochoo said.
Located around the corner from Albert and Dewdney, adjacent to the McDonalds, the property was found covered with litter, sharp needles and broken glass.
WPL called the house a danger to neighborhood children and with a treatment centre just blocks away, Oochoo is also concerned for re-covering addicts.
Joan, a neighbour who lives a few blocks away, is aware of the property and expects someone to take responsibility for its upkeep.
“A house that is clearly not inhabitable is just a magnet for trouble,” she said.
“It’s not something that should be in a neighbourhood where there’s families and kids walking by and whoever’s responsible for it, either the landlord or the city, should be held responsible for cleaning it up.”
WPL spent an hour and a half cleaning up the property only stopping when the sun set. That’s when the patrol found squatters on the back deck who were actively using drugs. They managed to get them to leave.
“It’s definitely one of the more severe cases that we have seen and again, we’re just getting started so we don’t know what else were going to find along the way,” Oochoo added.
The structural integrity of the building is a concern to neighbours as well. Russ said one day when the wind was strong, he was hit by shingles and nails that came loose from the roof.
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The property has been the location of at least one major fire in the past year and is boarded up as a result. Russ said he is worried with increased squatters that history may repeat itself.
“Fire’s my major concern,” he said.
WPL is calling for the City of Regina, the fire department, the police, the health inspector and the local MLA to draw their attention to the home and to tear it down.
Global News spoke with Lane Jackson, a spokesperson with the Regina Fire Department Sunday evening, who said all complaints concerning the well-being of a property needs to be filed through the city with Service Regina.
Oocho says WPL expects to file a formal complaint Monday morning.
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